OT: From Bruin to Wolverine.

Have you been Ann Arbor before? I have been there once. Just a beautiful campus and folks from UMich are awesome. UCLA/Michigan … as perfect combination as it can get.

Congrats on your acceptance! Here are my observations from having spent two years getting an MBA at Michigan’s Ross School of Business:

1. Culture: Michigan is a fine school; I met a lot of smart and motivated students in the MBA program, and you probably would in the School of Social Work, too. The overall student body isn’t as academically minded as UCLA’s, but within the graduate schools it’s strong. There is a vibrant party scene as the weekend approaches and huge interest in football and intramural sports. The campus isn’t as multicultural as UCLA’s (there are few schools that are), but you will meet a lot of international students.

2. Weather: I’ve lived in the Boston area and Indiana, so I’m used to frigid weather, but Michigan’s is more pronounced. The air is colder and there is no ocean effect, so snow may fall in December and stay on the ground for half a year. If you are busy with graduate school work, you may not mind, but your enjoyment of fall colors and spring breezes will only occur for a minority of the time you are on campus. If you like snow sports, it’s a great place. One of my classmates played hockey in the campus stadium all winter long.

3. Reputation: Michigan has a strong reputation in social work and other programs. For business school, Michigan usually ranks in the top 5 or so, but the school does not command the same respect in the public eye as a handful of other “top” b-schools do, so try to get a sense of how well Michigan’s reputation in social work extends to the places you would like to call home after graduation.

4. Sports: Outside of football and intramural sports, hockey’s perhaps the next most popular. Interest in basketball much lower than it is at UCLA. The Wolverines were a little better during my time than they are now, but they often played before half-empty stadiums. Football almost always sells out. If you like sports, one key question to think about is, “Can I root for the Wolverines?” I found that, after years of rooting for UCLA against Michigan, I simply could not bring myself to root for Michigan. On the rare occasions UCLA and Michigan met in a game, I’d walk across campus with blue & gold rather than maize & blue, and that choice was never up for debate. If you’re a hard-core college sports fan, the matter of allegiance might be a crucial factor in your overall happiness on a campus.

5. Campus resources: The student union is great, there are many libraries sprinkled around campus, it’s easy to get around via shuttle bus, and the school of social work is well-situated for many activities. The school of social work has a new building, so resources within the program are probably first-rate.

6. Alumni life: Michigan has a decent alumni network. Alumni clubs in different parts of the country seem to be better-financed and more active than those of many other schools. Michigan’s also developed a series of online databases and other tools to help alumni with postgraduate communications. Many alumni are too fixated on football to talk at length about much else (especially the ones from the undergraduate side). If you like sports, that might be just fine, but if you like to discuss social policy at alumni parties, you might be disappointed.

7. Housing: Housing is generally more affordable than it is around UCLA, and the competition for space near campus is not as fierce. You can easily find a room-sharing arrangement in a home or an apartment building.

Enjoy the visit to Ann Arbor. If you have time, hang out in student lounges after dinner to get candid comments from students. Good luck with your decision!

Well done!

Don’t forget, you can root for UM and the Bruins. Most of the professors I work with attended different post grad schools than their undergrad campuses. They generally root for all their schools.